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Erie puts off pursuit of high-speed municipal broadband service

Trustees opt to gauge demand for such a system from residents first

By John Aguilar Camera Staff Writer

Posted:
02/26/2013 10:06:08 PM MST

Updated:
02/26/2013 10:06:36 PM MST

Erie's elected leaders decided Tuesday night not to move ahead with a detailed analysis of what a townwide high-speed broadband network might look like, instead opting to survey residents first to gauge their level of interest in such a venture.

The proposed broadband feasibility study, which would have cost the town close to $50,000, would have highlighted the challenges and opportunities of building a fiber-optic network throughout Erie to deliver lightning-fast Internet connections at competitive prices.

Longmont is the only municipality on the Front Range pursuing its own high-speed broadband network, which the city plans to light up for the first time on a limited basis in the next month or two.

Erie had selected four companies to interview next month to conduct the study. The Board of Trustees debated Tuesday whether to move forward with the process.

Trustee Jonathan Hager, who has spent the last dozen years managing fiber-optic networks for a Westminster-based wholesale electric power supplier, championed the idea for Erie from both a local control perspective and an economic development one.

"If I'm a company and I'm going to relocate here with 100 employees and I need 100 megabits per second of speed and the town can provide that, I think that would be something I would look at," Hager said. "If we can make Erie stand out as a good place to live because we offer broadband, that puts us in a good position."

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Internet access, he said, has become so ubiquitous and necessary that it could be seen as just another municipally provided utility, like water and electrical service.

"We can provide it ourselves and cut out the middle man," Hager said.

But several trustees expressed concern about taking on debt to implement such a network and the risk that advances in technology could eventually leave Erie saddled with an expensive, and outmoded, system.

"I'm very sensitive to the speed of technology's progression," Mayor Joe Wilson said. "By the time we cut the ribbon on this technology, it's old news."

Wilson also voiced concerns about whether it is government's proper role to be providing broadband Internet service or whether that is better left up to the private sector. He said there hasn't been an outcry from residents to pursue such a service.

"I'm always wary when government goes into the enterprise sector," he said. "Would we want to have another maintenance item to subsidize to the tune of millions of dollars to reach our goal of greater technology availability in Erie at the best possible prices?"

According to state law, any decision to pursue a municipal broadband initiative would have to win the approval of voters in Erie before it could move forward.

That's what happened in Longmont in 2011, when voters gave their OK to the city establishing a municipal fiber-optic network capable of providing speeds of 100 megabits per second or more.

Vince Jordan, broadband services manager for Longmont Power & Communications, said residents and businesses have been clamoring for faster Internet speeds that are consistently available throughout a 24-hour cycle. He said Longmont can provide faster service cheaper than the private sector -- up to 60 percent cheaper for commercial customers and up to 20 percent cheaper for residents -- because the city doesn't have to worry about corporate pressures and short-term financial returns.

Jordan acknowledged that Longmont has the advantage of already having 4,300 miles of fiber in place and a long history of providing electric power to its residents through a city-operated utility.

"That hill might be a little higher to climb for Erie," he said. "But it can be done."

Options for Erie included building and controlling the whole network itself or partnering with a private company to build and operate the system. The town is planning to issue a community survey later this year, which will now include a question about what priority the establishment of a municipal broadband system takes.

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